[geeman]

DAY ONE: A KIND OF MAGIC GATHERING

There's a lot of work that goes into a "Magical Gathering", whether you intended to have one or not. After arriving, RAC & I checked in at the Hilton, which I felt was rather bland, and totally a regular hotel. Nice and clean, mind you. But aside from a Mickey statue in the lobby, didn't really give off that "Disney Resort" feel. The day was muggy, but rain was looming. Before long, we got the call that Michele had arrived, and as we brought her to the Hilton, the rain started coming down torrentially. There went our plans for easy access to Downtown Disney. We drove over to get something to eat, and in the first of the "gatherings", Michele met up with two friends from her area, who had also been vacationing in WDW for the first time, only they'd arrived a few days earlier. They were having a blast so far, and were looking forward to more fun in the next couple of days. We gathered in the Christmas shop for a quick photo -- it was too wet to go anywhere else -- and then looked for a place to eat. While this was going on, I went over to Guest Services to activate my Annual Pass (that I had bought at the Disney store prior to the price increase!).


The CM who attended me was nice and pleasant- but not too meticulous. Thanks to the warnings I'd seen on forums and elsewhere, I decided to check my ticket after it was activated to be sure the date was correct. Would you believe my dismay when I looked at the ticket she'd handed me -- Goofy-- which had a Major goof on it! Not only had she erred by asking me if I'd wanted to "upgrade" my AP-- ("No", I said. "It's the first time I'm getting one".
"Oh, OK. Let me upgrade that for you." Which part didn't she hear?)--
But when she handed me the ticket and the schpiel and then went off to assist another guest, I decided to look at the ticket--- just in case-- and Guess what? The expiration date was 4/11/04. In other words - she gave me an annual pass that expired the same day I had just activated it! I got this fixed with no problem, but I'm so glad I did my research on the AP's, and that every site suggested I check the date. So here is a warning to all of you Annual Passers-- CHECK THE DATE!!!

After this, we found we couldn't eat anywhere at DD without a long wait, and we were all famished, so we were about to give up, when we spotted the dearth of people at the new "Earl of Sandwich". Either we were really hungry after a long day, or those sandwiches were good! I don't remember even having eaten Horseradissh in my life, but those sandwiches were very, very tasty. And not expensive at all. Our first night meal at Disney World cost less than 7 dollars each!!!